


Yell Your Name Like a Secret

by fotoshop_cutout



Category: The Maze Runner (2014), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M, Multi, Starbucks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-15
Updated: 2014-10-15
Packaged: 2018-02-21 06:29:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2458259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fotoshop_cutout/pseuds/fotoshop_cutout
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Newt is a Junior in College, Thomas is a Freshman. Newt makes him coffees when Thomas comes to the Starbucks that he works at. Newt gets roped into tutoring Thomas. Newt hates Thomas. Why is he helping him? (aka everyone knows other than Newt what is really going on here.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Yell Your Name Like a Secret

**Author's Note:**

> A slow work in progress, but a fun project nevertheless. Yay, Newtmas!

Newt worked at a Starbucks. He worked whenever he wasn't at home or at school, though school was his main priority and where he was most often found. Even still, the tiny corner store felt like a second home to him. The others who worked there with him were like cousins he was on relatively good terms with and he didn't mind the customers at all.

  
Everyday he went to his morning classes (although he hated mornings) and in the evening he would greet the rush of people getting their caffeine fix for the ride home. It made him enough money to live comfortably with Minho, Gally and Alby. The four of them rented a townhouse together and paid their respective quarter of the bills. It meant that they didn't have to live on campus with all the freshmen (greenies, they called them) and weren't having to pay out the ass for a pocket-sized apartment.

  
It was his third year of college and second year of working at the store when everything changed. Second week of college and Newt had finished class, gone to work and was met with clogged pipes. Everyone was standing around: Teresa had her hat in her lap, apron balled up on the counter; Zart was hovering, watching the poor guy draining the pipes; Brenda was dusting everything and Newt was leaned back on the back legs in a chair, tired and a little glad he didn't have drinks to make at the moment.

  
The door chimed and Newt automatically started the spiel about them being closed. "Sorry man, we're closed. Plumbing problems."

  
But Teresa rolled her eyes at him and spoke over him. "Hey Thomas, come sit."

  
She patted the seat next to her and the guy slid into the chair rather gracefully. Newt glanced at Zart who had looked up with mild interest. Brenda smiled and gave Thomas a little wave, but mostly tried to seem smaller since it was clear Teresa and random off the streets guy were together. Teresa leaned over and kissed his cheek, Thomas smiled at her and gestured toward the plumber. “Is that why it reeks in here?”

  
“No that’s just you.” Newt scowled as he made the jibe at the unknown guy who shouldn’t even be in here. Teresa shouldn’t have called her boyfriend to come hang out just because they didn’t have anything to do.

  
Thomas gave him an odd look and sniffed at the shoulder of his shirt. “I mean, I just took a shower, so it must be your attitude.”

  
It was a low blow, but it was witty enough that Newt just let his chair thunk down onto all four legs before he stalked off to find Jorge, who was most likely in their back room doing manager-type stuff. Teresa and Thomas chatted like nothing happened. Newt surreptitiously watched them as he walked away. It made sense that new girl would start dating some jock in her own year.

Fuckin' greenies, man.

  
Jorge was on the phone with the district manager, ignoring Newt as he sunk into the uncomfortable wooden chair and snagged a pastry at random from the shelf. He opened it and started chowing down, enjoying the pumpkin scone as much as he could with a sour mood. When Jorge finally got off the phone he glanced at Newt for a moment.

  
"What's up, muchacho?" His thick Mexican accent came through every time even though Newt was sure he'd been raised in the States.

  
"New girl invited her dumb boyfriend in. We're supposed to be closed." He kept munching at the scone. Jorge gave him a leveled, serious look and then swiveled away from him in his chair.

  
"In other words you're still butthurt that everyone seems to like her and you haven't approved of her just yet."

  
Newt pursed his lips. That wasn't it. It wasn't. Jorge continued after a pause. "Either that or he's hot and you're jealous."

  
Newt only shook his head, shoved the rest of the scone into his mouth and balled the wrapper up, tossing it in the trash. He left without another word, leaving a chuckling Jorge behind him. The store was closed for another hour and then ended up making a venti white mocha for Teresa's boyfriend.

~*~

 

Over the course of the next couple of weeks Newt fell into a routine of alternatively ignoring and sneering at Thomas as he started swinging by the shop in increasing frequency. At first it was only when Teresa was working, but slowly it just became an everyday thing. Newt never said a word other than "Your usual?"

  
Thomas didn't seem to mind, even ran into Minho one day, arranged it so he was running with the other boy every day. Newt pretended he didn't care. Thomas noticed and started lingering longer, trying to chat him up instead of leaving a scowling Newt in a foul mood for the rest of the customers. Not that Newt knew he was doing that.

  
Then Thomas wasn't just showing up at his work. He would show up to hang out with Minho at the apartment. Newt felt violated at this point. Greenies weren't supposed to hang around with them, that was the entire reason they were renting the place. Teresa started tagging along occasionally and caused Newt to retreat into his room, closing himself off with the excuse of homework on his lips.

~*~

 

"Hey man, how are you doing?" Thomas sauntered up after paying for his drink, hanging over the counter as Newt made a grande soy chai. He scowled up at the Greenie and cleaned the steam wand, not deigning to answer. The girl in yoga pants came over to fetch her drink as he called it out and set it on the bar. He didn’t have much else to do, other than make Thomas’s drink for him, so he finally answered.

  
“Bloody awesome.” Sarcasm was dripping from his words. Thomas frowned, looking like he was puzzled by Newt’s reply. Really, he just didn’t want to talk to the Greenie. He actually wanted the kid to just get well and out of all of his business, but it wasn’t likely as Minho really liked the kid. After a hefty pause and Thomas receiving his venti white mocha, he set his drink back down on the bar and hunched over next to it, elbows resting on the wood.

  
“Hey, I know you don’t like me much,” At Newt’s sharp gaze he waved a hand in the air, “Or at all, really!” Once he had soothed the beast he continued, “but I’m in your physics class and I was having trouble with some of the problems. Minho mentioned you thought it was all--uh, I think the term he used was ‘elementary’. Could you help me out with it? Or just toss some notes or pointers my way--or, or point me in the direction of someone who can help?” By the end of his stammering line of questioning he was out of breath and talking so fast he was tripping over his own words. Newt just continued scowling in his direction.

  
“Minho, huh?” He washed a pitcher and spoon thoughtfully. “Have you thought to ask Gally? He’s in that class too.”

  
Thomas hesitated, and then nodded. “Yeah--I mean no, I didn’t think about that. I’ll ask him. Sorry to bother you.” He picked up his drink and nearly bolted to the door, tossing a ‘see ya’ over his shoulder as he went. Newt shook his head and sighed, turning to start the next drink. Teresa thunked the next cup down in line and gave him a steely look.

  
“You could at least help him out. He’s not stupid, you know, but he needs some help.” Her voice was soft enough that the customers couldn’t hear. He shrugged it off.

  
“Gally can help him.”

  
She pursed her lips but remained silent, turning back to take the next order.

~*~

 

It turned out that Gally and Thomas didn't get along that well, which Newt would have noticed if he'd been paying any attention to the fact that Gally would disappear over to his friends' house whenever Thomas would come over to theirs. But Newt hadn't noticed, he'd been too caught up in the fact that a Greenie was in their house. Needless to say, Gally was pissy that Newt had sent Thomas to him for help.

  
"Don't send the trash to me, dude. Deal with it yourself." Were Gally's exact words. Newt had been pissed. Whether it was that he now had to deal with helping Thomas or that Gally was an ass, he wasn't sure. He would probably say it was the former if you asked.

  
So the next three days were spent with Newt watching Thomas mope and struggle and decidedly not be in a good mood while studying at a table while Newt worked and pondered over how to help him. Finally, when it was quiet on the third day, Newt made Thomas another white mocha and ventured out from behind the bar. He plunked the drink down in front of the Greenie and lowered himself into the chair across the table. He hunched over a bit so he could read what Thomas was working on.

  
“You realize that most of the test isn’t going to be multiple choice, right?” There he was, _helping_. Thomas jerked his gaze upward and Newt watched in slight fascination as the muscles in his jaw worked.

  
“Thanks for the tip.” The sarcasm was thick and it made Newt sit back a little. Maybe his wording hadn’t been the best, but seeing the kid work on deducing the correct answer out of four possibilities just hurt Newt right inside his chest--right _there_. Perhaps, though, he needed to say it a different way. Newt pursed his lips and then tapped the corner of one of the texts Thomas had just laying out at some random page.

  
“I only meant that maybe it would be best if you studied in the way that might actually be beneficial. If the test is going to be you writing the answer out, then being able to eliminate the incorrect answers isn’t going to help you.” He paused, then tapped a long, dexterous finger against his lips, “Flash cards might help.”

  
Thomas rolled his eyes. “I’m not in middle school anymore.” He sat back, took the proffered drink without so much as a thank you and scowled at the barista. “I thought you weren’t going to help me, anyway.”

  
Newt shrugged. “You’re in my space, disrupting my valued customers with your giant stress bubble going on over here. I’m just trying to make my own life easier.”

  
That and the scathing looks Teresa kept sending his way was less than a stellar environment to work in. Thomas scoffed. He didn’t believe Newt either. He shook his head, buried his fingers and pen into his hair to scratch an itch, and took a drink from the white mocha. When he set the cup back down, he met Newt’s gaze.

  
“Alright then; help away.”

  
It was just like that. Newt was all of a sudden tutoring the Greenie. “Be at the house at 6:30 tonight. I’ll help you after I’m off work.”

  
Thomas begrudgingly nodded and put away his books, snatched up the free drink and hefted his bag’s strap over a shoulder, “I’ll be there.”

  
Newt watched him leave, looking a little less doom and gloom than the entire time he’d been in the coffee shop.

  
“You gonna sit there for the rest of your shift, or actually make drinks?” Teresa asked, a smug smile on her lips as she motioned to the small line of cups that had made their way down the counter while he had been talking to Thomas. He frowned at her. She was doing this on purpose just to torment him.


End file.
